Ethical Issues In The IT Industry Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Ethical Issues In The IT Industry. Answer: Introduction Ethics is something that has become a matter of concern for the companies. This is the era of global and technological business and hence IT sector plays a very major role in it. There are changes in ways IT has influenced the lives of the people (Reynolds, 2011). This has raised many ethical issues for the firms working under this industry. In order to ensure that these issues do not create negative impact on the firms it is essential that they manage it in a better manner. Telstra is one of the biggest IT firm in the Australia. This report throws lights on the ethical issues that are present in the IT industry and the impact it has on the stakeholders associated with the companies like Telstra. It also describes the alternatives that can be used for addressing these issues. Major issues related to ethics and its influence on the stakeholders In IT industry there are many ethical issues that is becoming a challenge for the business (Weckert and Lucas, 2013). These issues have come up due to several kinds of factors. These issues have become challenges for the society and the industry. Some of the issues in the cited industry are listed below: Security: There are larger set of data that is present on the IT mediums these days (Venkatesh, Thong and Xu, 2012). Since all the other industries are also dependent on this industry for their operations. There have been attempts in the past by the hackers to steal or corrupt these data. This has created major ethical concern for the industry as the hackers can misuse this data as per their need. Privacy: There are many types of personal data related to the stakeholders are present in this industry. If these data gets leaked then it is a threat to the privacy of the company as violating such privacy rights is an ethical issue for the Telstra. Copyright Infringement: Today the original work of many people is stored on the IT mediums. Many a times it has been seen that these works are copied by some other person. This especially happens in multimedia files. It is a violation of the copyright act and is a major ethical concern in the industry. Increased burden on IT personnel: With the increasing competition in the industry, the burden on the employees to works more accurately is increasing. They have to deliver quality 24 hours. Many employees get terminated due to their insufficiency to perform at such transforming and high expectations. This has accounted to one of the major ethical concerns in the industry. Digital divide: In many parts of the world IT technologies have not developed so as much as it has in the other corners of the world (Quinn, 2014). Countries such as US have dominance over the internet mediums while the nations in African region have lower access to these technologies. This has created a digital divide in the world. Since this is the era of business that is based on IT and hence the nations that do not have such facilities are lagging in terms of development. It has become one of the major ethical issues in the industry. All these issues have negative impact on the IT industrys stakeholders. If these issues are not addressed in a proper manner then it may create some serious problems for the society. Some of the impact on the stakeholders has been listed below. Employees: Workers of the IT industry are under serious pressure of performing in a better manner so that such issues do not occur. Their personal data is also on stake. Investors: If the data is not secured in a proper way then there is always a chance that there can be heavy loses to the stakeholders. Copyright infringement like in the case of piracy has increased in the past several decades which have resulted in losses for the investors. Consumers: The information related to the consumers of the firm are at stake. This has created the chances of frauds that arise due to security and privacy (Stair, et al., 2011). If any data gets leaked of the clients of the companies then they may cause them personal harm. Government: Any kind of unethical frauds that happens in any industry is directly effecting the government as they have to take care of such issues. If any such frauds occur then government has to give compensations to the clients. Society: There is a change in the IT industry which has become a part and parcel of the lives of the people in the society. These changes have direct effect on the society. If the data leak is related to economic welfare of society occurs then it is an ethical issue for the society. Alternatives for addressing such issues This industry is changing at much faster rate as compared to other industries hence a more dynamic approach must be applied for tackling all these issues. If all these issues have not been taken care of then there can be serious loses to the stakeholders associated with them. There are some of the alternatives that IT industry can use for addressing these issues: Making policies: It is one of the best ways of ensuring that such malpractice does not occur in the industry. Making policy can help in reducing the amount of unethical practices in the industry (Wright, 2011). Thefts related to the data can be reduced to minimum by making policies. Ethical guidelines must be made as per the requirements of the industry and it must be uniformly implemented within the industry. Use of firewalls: There must be use of firewalls that protects data from any kind of attacks with the use of malwares. This will help Telstra in safeguarding from hackers that aims to destroy hardware and software of the firm. Authentication tools: Tools such as login pages can help in safeguarding private and important data of the firm (Floridi, 2013). This does not allow unwanted person to access the systems of the users. Telstra needs to upgrade their authentication tool from time from time so that a better authentication can be provided. Making technology affordable: It is crucial for the industry to make sure that they work on the technology that is affordable. This will help in reducing the divide that is created between the developed and under developing nations. For doing this an extensive amount of research needs to be done. Collaborative approach: It is crucial for the companies in the industry to make sure that they have collaborative efforts to reduce such unethical practices in the industry (Stahl, et al., 2014). Copying of the idea generated by the Telstra by the other must be reduced (Telstra, 2015). Preferred alternative over the many There are many alternatives that are available with the IT industry so as to address the unethical practices in the society (Tavani, 2011). Among these alternatives the most suitable alternative can be to take use of the authentication tool. This is due to the reason that it does not allow any unauthorised person to access the system. This will help in making sure that no frauds or data temper is done. Multilayer authentication tools can be highly beneficial. Even the access to the system should also be given to limited number of stakeholders so that the chances of frauds can be further reduced. Conclusion From the above report it can be summarised that Information and technology industry is facing many kinds of challenges in the form of ethical issues. IT industry has penetrated in the lives of the society and hence the concerns related to the ethics have broadened. Issues such as security and privacy have threatened the stakeholders of the industry. IT firms needs to use all the alternatives present with them for preventing such affairs. Taking use of the authentication tools can help Telstra in preventing from such kind of breach. Recommendations Telstra aims to become one of the best performing firms in the industry. While achieving this they need to ensure that they have taken proper care of all the ethical concerns that are associated with the company. Cited firm needs to use the authentication tools so that any unauthorised person may not access to the systems of the company. They also need to continuously upgrade it so that they remain ahead of the hackers. A formal policy that could stop mal practices inside the firm is required. Use of the advanced firewalls will protect them from any kind of cyber-attacks. 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Venkatesh, V., Thong, J.Y. and Xu, X., 2012. Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology.MIS quarterly, pp.157-178. Weckert, J. and Lucas, R., 2013.Professionalism in the information and communication technology industry. ANU Press. Wright, D., 2011. A framework for the ethical impact assessment of information technology.Ethics and information technology,13(3), pp.199-226.